Congratulations to Maria Cazzato for earning her place as Finalist in the Boynes Artist Award 8th Edition [Young Artist Category]!

Who are you?

I’m a mixed media artist based in Boston, Massachusetts and Tucson, Arizona. I am currently a first-year BFA student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. I also study political science at Tufts University. My main discipline is painting, and I’ve been oil painting for about 7 years.

My work explores themes of body dysmorphia, weight stigma, and self-perception. Body checking, the ritualistic tracking of one’s appearance or weight, and the hyper fixation on perceived flaws drive the creation of these pieces.

For a while, my practice was mostly rooted in portraiture, but I have since become more interested in the female figure. I’ve always painted a lot of women and I did some portraits of friends and family.

Recently I’ve been exclusively making self-portraits. I used to find self-portraits limiting, like, who cares about my face? But I think they can be some of the most universal images. A portrait of a friend or family member is intimate and relatively inaccessible to a viewer who doesn’t know the subject. But everyone can understand a self-portrait because everyone has a body that they occupy and perceive. I like to exploit that universality in my paintings. 

What inspired you to utilize painting as a medium?

I’ve always painted people, which makes oil painting the obvious choice. It really seems like oils were invented for painting flesh. It has this beautiful transparency, richness, and depth that is just inaccessible through other mediums. The process is full of so much trial and error. Oil paintings especially tend to look terrible long before they start to match the image in my head. Painting feels like an exercise of faith most of the time. I appreciate how it’s such a classical medium with a rich history, while remaining relevant. I am interested in exploring body politics through my work, so figure painting is the genre I feel most at home in. There are so many exciting things happening in figure painting right now, the possibilities feel endless. 

How would you describe your work?

I describe my work as the creation of ‘corporeal altars’ or the idea that bodies are places upon which rituals, worship, and damnation take place. I use paintings to visualize body dysmorphia and distorted self-perception. Body dysmorphia, body checking, and the imagery generated by both drive my process. I like to manipulate color, perspective, and proportions to simulate alienation from one’s own body.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your finalist work?

I was interested in the challenge of showing the body from two different angles at the same time. The way we perceive our own bodies is never simple and finite, but instead informed by multiple angles fighting for our attention all at once. How I perceive my body changes drastically from day to day, angle to angle, and experience I wanted to visualize through this painting. This piece was challenging because I was compositing multiple reference photos into one piece. It was also a darker color scheme than I normally work in. The hands were a really important element in this painting. Not only are they a great compositional tool, but they become claws sinking into the flesh, again playing with themes of self-perception.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating “leg portal”?

I always start my paintings with an underpainting, which helps to make my usually over-the-top color schemes more cohesive. Then I slowly add in the figure layer by layer. My finalist piece was done in about three layers. Lastly, I always like to scratch away some of the paint, revealing the color of the underpainting. This allows me to create additional textures in the skin and add details like stretch marks or body hair. 

What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?

I want people to consider how weight stigma and fatphobia influences the perception of their own body. I am interested in provoking anxiety in the viewer. I love when people see my paintings and feel uncomfortable or put off. So much happens in that space between the beautiful and the grotesque. The colors are over the top and sparkly but the bodies are full of adolescent angst that feels both trivial and all-consuming. I like making pieces that are over-stimulating and difficult to decipher because that is how I perceive my own body. 

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?

I think I’m still learning to take the preciousness out of my process. I found oil painting slow to pick up and really challenging. Because of the big learning curve, my paintings felt very precise and technically driven. This helped me learn but also made painting feel scary. Once I became comfortable in the medium and the process became intuitive, I was able to break some of my own rules. I’m now less afraid to make ugly pieces. 

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

Honestly just getting into art school was a big deal for me. I always felt like more of a student than an artist, and having that validation for my art was huge. I was never around artists growing up and my practice was always very solitary, so being surrounded by creatives all of a sudden was a very welcome change. 

Have you experimented with other mediums? 

I’ve worked almost exclusively in oils for most of my life but being in art school I am pushed to work with a wide range of media. In addition to painting, I work in drawing, screenprinting, etching, collage, and embroidery. I am always looking for ways to expand my practice. Even when working in mediums I am less interested in, exposure to different processes informs my painting practice. Screenprinting, for example, is so reliant on transparency and layering in a way that is reminiscent of oils. Printmaking inspired me to consider what happens when bodies are overlapped on top of each other. 

What projects are you working on currently?

I recently completed a large painting (spanning about 2 yards) that consists of four overlapping reclining nudes. I incorporated a wide variety of media in this piece, including iridescent paper, glitter glue, caulk, acrylic crackle paste, etc. I’m continuing to explore different ways to depict fat and skin textures like cellulite and stretchmarks, pushing them to the point of abstraction. Using materials that have a reflective or iridescent finish allows light to project off the surface between my brushstrokes. I had so much fun with this painting. It felt very arts-and-craftsy, plus I love glitter and all things shiny. 

What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?

I want to work on a much larger scale than I am now. I’d like my paintings to span entire walls and rooms so that viewers have to step back to see the entire image. I also want to develop a more mixed-media approach to my paintings, specifically by incorporating collage and embroidery. 

As a finalist, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

As a young artist in a creative field, it’s easy to feel stuck in imposter syndrome. This can be really limiting, so, in an effort to combat this, my rule became ‘when in doubt, apply anyway’. It’s important to research art opportunities and pursue the ones that are a good fit. I find it helpful to apply to art opportunities in batches, that way I don’t get too attached to anything. Rejection emails sting less if you forget that you applied in the first place. Focus on making work and everything else becomes background noise. 

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists, what is your advice?

Introduce yourself to people who are smarter and more talented than you and steal all their secrets. This will save time and you might even make friends. Consult people who you can trust to be honest when critiquing your work. Consuming a lot of art can help you to develop your personal taste, which is just as useful as developing your technique. Always be collecting imagery and ideas. I have google drive full of random pictures and notes, most of which will never become paintings. Keep a sketchbook, write things down, take photos of everything, and never throw anything away in case you need it later.

To view more of Maria Cazzato’s work

Instagram